Mini Blood Orange Scented Chocolate-Ricotta Cakes

Mini Blood Orange Scented Chocolate-Ricotta Cakes are chocolaty cakes with a lovely pink, crackly glaze. They might be the best result of a recipe fail, EVER. Trust me when I say theyâre amazing â and then make a batch for yourself!

I had been dying to make a delicious treat using blood oranges for a while, but I couldnât think of what to whip up. When I finally had a delectable idea in my head and got my recipes together, the results wereâ¦disgusting.

Letâs just say my cakes were gloopy and green (green!), and my attempt at blood orange curd resulted in a runny, beige mess. NOT appealing, for sure!

The days rolled by and I couldnât stop thinking about the blood oranges and the fact that they were only around for a short time. What could I make? The pressure was driving me nuts!

I turned to my good friend chocolate, and a calmness came over me. Chocolate never lets me down, and I mean, really! I made Mini Blood Orange Scented Chocolate-Ricotta Cakes, and added a blood orange glaze over the tops of them. The flavor! The richness! The color!

I almost shed a tear over how good these cakes turned out. Theyâre rich and moist, and the orange zest that I added to the cakes adds an amazing amount of flavor. The juice makes a vibrant pink glaze that delivers just the right amount of sweetness.

Iâm going to make another batch of Mini Blood Orange Scented Chocolate-Ricotta Cakes this weekend for company. You should try these cakes, too!

Do you love mini treats like I do? Try one of my other mini dessert recipes:

1-1/2 cups confectionersâ sugar, more or less for the consistency you like
2 tablespoons blood orange juice, more or less for the consistency you like

Instructions

For the cakes:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly spray a 12-count mini Bundt cake pan with the nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Add the flour, salt, and cocoa powder to a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, and set aside.
Add the egg to a large bowl, and beat it lightly. Add the sugar and whisk for a few minutes until smooth. Add the butter, ricotta cheese, and orange zest, and continue to whisk until blended.
Add the dry mixture to the egg mixture, a little at a time, and mix well until combined.
Evenly divide the mixture between the wells of the pan, and fill them almost to the top.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cakes spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean.
Leave the cakes in the pan and place on a wire rack to cool. After about 10 minutes or so, place a baking sheet over the pan and carefully invert the pan so the cakes come out onto the baking sheet.
Continue to cool completely, then drizzle with the blood orange glaze.

For the glaze:

Add the confectionersâ sugar and the blood orange juice to a small bowl, and whisk to combine until smooth.
If you need to, add more sugar to thicken the glaze, and a bit more juice to thin it out.
Drizzle over completely cooled cakes.